I went to my high school reunion
this past spring. I have to say I
actually enjoyed myself, and it turned out much better than expected. Maybe it’s because our class was small. But that’s not the topic I want to discuss.
The first thing I want to write
about my disappointment at our class photograph. When you purchase a photograph at an event
knowing that it will be sent to you, what do you expect? I expected a nice glossy of our class. What did I get? I got a darkish, orangey print out using an
ink jet on matte finish paper. Some of
my classmates were actually orange in the photo.
What was that photographer thinking
when she sent these out to all of us?
Did she think we actually expected our photographs to come that
way? And I know I am not the only one
that felt that way. I spoke to a couple
of other classmates including one of the main organizers, and they too felt
ripped off.
Morale of the story? If you provide a product or service to
customers, take time to make sure you understand what people expect and deliver
it. This photographer has deeply hurt
her reputation because she had some 30 people buying photographs from her at $20
a pop. She made well over $600, and she
could take the time to color correct and even go to Target or WalMart and have
the photographs professionally printed on glossy? Even with that additional cost, she was have
made a tidy profit. And better yet, she
would have people willing to recommend her instead of all these people who will
steer clear of her in the future and even tell people not to use her.
The second thing I am still
thinking about. I met up with one woman
that I always liked, and we even talked about our jobs. She thought that maybe we could do business
together in the future. Nice.
One day months later, she did call,
but what she was offering wasn’t just a chat or potential business but a
possibility of selling products under her.
It wasn’t bad that she offered that, but I guess my expectation at a
reunion wasn’t to be sold too.
I guess what colors my view is that
I steer clear of products where you have to join in order to purchase, and
while there are testimonials, there are no prices mentioned until you join and
there are minimum monthly commitments for purchase. She was selling those type of products. I was disappointed and now I wonder was she
really happy to see me or did she just see me as a potential customer rather
than a former classmate.
Am I glad I went to the
reunion? You bet. If this is all I have to complain about then
I guess it was a very nice event.
